Training for Commissioner Service

The new commissioner training materials are now ready. These include basic training, as well as the College of Commissioner Science courses.

Basic Training

There are now four position-specific basic training courses available for commissioner training:

Unit Commissioner Basic Training

New-Unit Commissioner Basic Training

Roundtable Commissioner Basic Training

District Commissioner and Assistant District Commissioner Basic TrainingEach of these is an instructor-led course that can be completed in 2½ to 3 hours. The course material can be downloaded from the Commissioners website under the Commissioner Training tab. Instructors should download and read the Instructor Guide before attempting to teach the course.

The Council Commissioner Basic Training course is in development and should be completed before the end of the year. That course is the last of the position-specific basic training courses planned for this year.

Upon completion of basic training, a pocket card or commissioner certificate (No. 34774) should be issued to the student. Basic training should be completed before commissioning.

Note: Every commissioner is required to complete basic training for their position, and a yearly review is not a bad idea!

College of Commissioner Science

The course offerings for the Bachelors, Masters, and Doctorate degrees are now complete. The Continuing Education section will have a few more courses added and then will be considered complete for this year. The courses for each degree can be downloaded from the Commissioners website under the Commissioner Training tab.

You will also find a General folder on the training website that contains a backdater spreadsheet, templates for college certificates, a sample budget, and a sample one-day course schedule. The updated manual section will be posted in this folder when it is complete. The General folder will contain resources to make it easier for the dean and staff to conduct a college.

Note that Section III, Chapter 4 of Administration of Commissioner Service is being updated to include much more information on how to plan and conduct a commissioner college. The additional information covers budgeting, using Internet techniques for conducting a remote college, degree requirements, reciprocity for those attending other colleges, record keeping, and more.

Future Plans for Training

All of the current basic training has been reviewed by the National Volunteer Training Committee. When the new council commissioner course is completed, it will also be reviewed before it is made available.

The National Volunteer Training Committee professional course developers are reviewing all of the updated commissioner college courses. This is a complex job due to the number of courses and multiple teaching methods within each course. Their recommendations will be incorporated into the current courses.

In addition, you are asked to provide feedback. Several courses have been changed as the result of excellent suggestions. To provide feedback, please use the feedback form available on the Commissioner Training page of the Commissioners website.

Beginning next year, review committees will be formed to update the current course offerings to include changes in the program like JTE and the changes received from the commissioner staff and the National Volunteer Training Committee. That update should result in even better course offerings and more complete and up-to-date information. If you are interested in serving on one of these review committees, please contact Tim Acree.

We would also like to update all of the commissioner videos offered on DVD to make them more current and have them available for download so you don’t have to request a DVD from your professional.

National-Level Training

The Unit Commissioner course is being offered at Sea Base on January 13–18, 2013. The course will be taught by Dave Fornadel and Kresha Alvarado of Circle Ten Council. Please see the “Sea Base Training” article.

If you have any questions about commissioner training, please contact Tim Acree, National Commissioner Service Training Chair, at tim.acree@comcast.net.